Research articles

Sialylated glycans (SGs), abundant in cell membranes, play decisive roles in regulating ion channels (e.g., NaV1.4, KV1.1, CaV1.2) in life system, only when the ion channels work stably and accurately can life activities proceed normally. Here we construct a biomimetic SG-modulated nanochannel based on a smart polymer design. Carbohydrate‒carbohydrate interaction triggers globule-to-coil transition of the polymer chains, which regulated the dynamic ion gating behavior of this nanochannel, resulting in a significant reduction in transmembrane ionic current. This device exhibits excellent specificity and sensitivity in response to α-2,6-linked sialyllactose, further realizing real-time monitoring of the sialylation reaction catalyzed by α2,6-sialyltransferase.

In this work, a high-T_c (~117 K) joined with a high-J_c (>10⁴ A/cm², 100 K) are reported in the CuBa₂Ca₃Cu₄O_10+δ (Cu-1234) superconductor. Studies have shown that the ordering vacancies and platelike 90° micro-domains serve as efficient microstructure pinning centers which suppress the vortex flux flow and enhance J_c. And plenty of holes with 2p_z symmetry owing to unique compressed [CuO₆] octahedrons decrease superconducting anisotropy and enhance the interlayer coupling that guarantee a high-J_c.

The photoactive α-phase FAPbI₃ perovskites can spontaneously transform into δ-FAPbI₃, which limits its use in photovoltaic device field. In this work, we show that the incorporation of the dimethylamine cation into FAPbI₃ significantly improves phase stability and photoelectric response of FAPbI₃ perovskite materials, while the inherent bandgap energy of the FAPbI₃ perovskite is maintained. A detailed ²H NMR analysis reveals the property optimization attributes to the increase of coupling interaction between organic cations and inorganic lattice.

We synthesized small-sized ion doped PEDOT-Ag quantum dot (S-PEDOT-Ag QD) composite film via one-step vapor phase polymerization (VPP) using a novel Ag(I) salt precursor. The films exhibit enhanced thermoelectric performance and good antibacterial activity at low Ag loadings. This facile approach provides new route to synthesize high performance conducting polymer–inorganic composite.

Physicochemical properties of three-dimensional hydrogels upregulate Smad2 and MAPKs signaling pathways during chondrogenesis.

We show giant converse magnetoelectric effect in a multiferroic heterostructure consisting of ferromagnetic Heusler alloy Co₂FeSi and ferroelectric-oxide Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-PbTiO₃ for an electric-field control of magnetization vectors. In this system, the non-volatile and repeatable magnetization vector switchings in remanent states are also demonstrated. This approach can lead to a new solution to the reduction in the write power in spintronic memory architectures at room temperature.

An illustration of the optically controlled entanglement between a radical spin and a triplet state on an optically active moiety such as a phthalocyanine molecule. The optical excitations and the resulting strong exchange interactions, in combination with the recent spin manipulation in molecules at high temperature, imply this entangling mechanism has a great potential for room temperature quantum computing.

We formulated micromagnetic simulation models of nanocrystalline soft magnetic materials including effects of magnetostriction, and simulated motions of domain walls to clarify mechanism of energy dissipations in the nanocrystalline soft magnetic materials. The magnetostriction is nonuniformly distributed, and magnetic energy induced by external field is converted into elastic energy due to the magnetostriction. This energy consumption generates an excess loss in the nanocrystalline soft magnetic materials even there is no eddy current. The simulation results enable us to reduce the core loss in the nanocrystalline soft magnetic materials.

Single Sn vacancies are dominant in slow solidification speed, while multivacancies are dominant in high solidification speed SnSe crystals. The multivacancies also provide hole carrier to the crystal and are major p-type sources in high solidification speed SnSe crystals especially in polycrystalline SnSe.

Two-dimensional distorted orthorhombic GeS microribbons has been synthesized applying vapor-liquid-solid and vapor-solid mechanism-based chemical vapor transport. Polarized Raman and photoluminescence characterizations show the significantly angle-dependent intensity and anisotropic optical properties. Additionally, we probed the anisotropic electric properties by fabricating back-gate cross-shaped field effect transistors. In-plane direct current measurement demonstrated the charge carrier transport anisotropy and its anisotropic current ratio can be linearly adjusted by changing the gate voltage under dark and illumination conditions.

A novel technique is demonstrated for the fabrication of individually addressable, high-density, flexible pressure sensor arrays composed of 1D ZnO nanotubes on graphene. The individually addressable pixel matrix was fabricated by arranging the top and bottom electrodes of the sensors in a crossbar configuration. A high spatial resolution of 1058 dpi was achieved for a Schottky diode-based force/pressure sensor composed of piezoelectric ZnO nanotubes on a flexible substrate.

A mechanically percolated network of 2D gold nanosheets embedded within a PDMS elastomer enables the realization of elastomeric electrodes with superior mechanical sustainability and high electrical conductivity. Owing to such highly durable elastomeric electrodes facilitate the development of elastomeric electronics, including transistors, inverters, NOR, and NAND, which is expected to broaden the scope of soft electronic applications.

The β-cell microcapsules prepared by the microfluidic electrospray method were transplanted into the omentum pouch of mice for intelligent release of insulin to treat diabetes. Studies have shown that microcapsules can encapsulate cells while allowing nutrients and metabolites to enter and exit. This ability helps protect cells, improve cell activity, and reduce inflammation. In addition, the β-cell microcapsules can intelligently release insulin. The constructed living cell biosystem was further demonstrated its potential as artificial islets to be transplanted into diabetic mice omentum pouch to control blood glucose levels and thus treat diabetes of mice.

We report that recently synthesized NaZnBi is a new dual topological insulator, with \({\Bbb Z}_2\) indices \((\nu _0;\nu _1\nu _2\nu _3) = (1;000)\) and odd mirror Chern numbers ±1, based on the first-principles calculations. NaZnBi, which crystallizes in a tetragonal structure with the P4/nmm space group, consists of ZnBi layers and embedded Na atoms. The (100) surface electronic structure exhibits the gapless surface states, which connect the valence and conduction bulk bands. These gapless surface states form the topological Dirac point at the Brillouin zone center \(\overline{\Gamma}\). This characteristic clearly shows the topological insulating phase in NaZnBi. Moreover, by applying an external magnetic field in various directions, we verify that the topological Dirac point at \(\overline {\Gamma}\) is protected by the time-reversal and mirror symmetries, and confirm that NaZnBi belongs to the class of dual topological insulators.

The “molecular knitting method” improves toughness and Young’s modulus. We prepared dual cross-network (DC) elastomers with a knitting structure and single movable cross-network elastomers with penetrating polymers (SCP elastomers) by swelling the single movable cross-network (SC) elastomers in liquid monomers. The DC elastomers showed a high toughness and a high Young’s modulus. SAXS indicated that the DC elastomers exhibited heterogeneity at the nanoscale. The DC elastomers showed a significantly broader relaxation time distribution than the SC and SCP elastomers. Thus, the nanoscale heterogeneity and broader relaxation time distribution were important to increase toughness.

Despite extensive previous research, the suppression in phonon conduction at the nanoscale still calls into questions on the interaction of phonons with various sources of boundary scatterings. In this work, a combination of Boltzmann transport model and the experiments finds that the bridges contribute to phonon mean free paths proportional to its volume fraction despite its negligible contribution to net heat flux. A statistical analysis of boundary scattering reveals that transport characteristics of phonon evolves from Brownian motion to Lévy walk due to phonons trapped within the bridges.

In this work, we systematically study heat conduction in SiC nanostructures, including nanomembranes, nanowires, and phononic crystals. Our measurements show that the thermal conductivity of nanostructures is several times lower than that in bulk and the values scale proportionally to the narrowest dimension of the structures. Additionally, we probed phonon mean free path and coherent heat conduction in these nanostructures. Our theoretical model links the observed suppression of heat conduction with the surface phonon scattering, which limits the phonon mean free path and thus reduces the thermal conductivity.

For the emergent colossal, reversible barocaloric effect in organic–inorganic perovskite hybrids (CH₃–(CH₂)_n−1–NH₃)₂MnCl₄ (n = 9, 10), we successfully grew a single crystal, and the underlying mechanism was determined by high-resolution SC-XRD, IR spectroscopy and DFT calculations. The drastic transformation of organic chains confined to the metallic frame from ordered rigidity to disordered flexibility is responsible for the large phase-transition entropy, which is comparable to the melting entropy of organic chains. The result provides new insights into designing novel barocaloric materials by utilizing the disordering of organic chains of organic–inorganic hybrid materials.

A rare-earth intermetallic La-Ce-Fe-Si-H has been directly measured to cool 8 K when it is under a 1 kbar pressure. This barocaloric strength significantly outperforms those in previously reported phase-transitioned alloys. A multifield-dependent neutron diffraction has revealed that the large isotropic transition volume change for La-Ce-Fe-Si-H plays a crucial role in exploring the giant barocaloric effect.

(Left, above) Schematic diagram describing the process of the Au implantation into the Dirac semimetal (DSM) Bi_0.96Sb_0.04. (Left, below) Positive longitudinal magnetic resistance (LMR) is observed in the crystal without ion implantation, but negative LMR behavior becomes apparent for ϕ_G ≥ 3.2 × 10¹⁶ Au cm⁻² (≡ ϕ_C, critical implant fluence), and reaches a maximum for ϕ_G = 8.0 × 10¹⁶ Au cm⁻². (Middle) Quantum oscillation parameters for the β Fermi pockets showing abrupt changes near ϕ_C, typical of phase transition. No such behavior is observed for the α Fermi pockets. (Right) A drastic change in the Raman spectra is observed for ϕ_G ≥ ϕ_C. In particular, a new peak appears at 85.7 cm⁻¹, between the well-known Raman modes, suggesting that the inversion symmetry breaking in the crystal occurred for ϕ_G ≥ ϕ_C, resulting in the transition of the DSM to a Weyl semimetal.